Ch: Ma Shihuang. An ancient, legendary practitioner of Daoist arts and horse doctor during the rule of Emperor Huang (Ch:…

Ch: Mei Fu. Chinese immortal shown in painting as riding a luan (Jp: ran 鸞), a mythical bird similar to a…

Lit. double format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print used for full-color woodblock…

Also kōchakuzai 膠着剤. Binder, vehicle. A liquid mixed with a pigment *ganryō…

Lit. horse-mouth mudra. A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by placing both palms…

Lit. bind (Sk: bandha). A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by clasping both…

A gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面, representing a Brahmin (the highest…

Also written 馬棟 or 波連. The most important tool used in the process of woodblock printmaking. A baren is made up of…

Also read Basūsen. Basu, the Immortal, sennin 仙人. An Indian sage, whose Sanskrit name, Vasu, may…

Also written 髪頭, 鉢頭, 撥頭. A dance piece in *bugaku 舞楽 and the mask of a terse,…

Sk: Hayagriva. Also called Batō Myōō 馬頭明王. The Horse-headed *Kannon 観音 in an angry, …

Also written ベンガラ, 紅柄, or 紅殻. Sometimes pronounced benigara. Red earth pigment. A bright, purplish-red pigment *…

Discriminating Jade from Stone Collection, a late 17th-century miscellany on art which ranges from the discussion of tea…

A black-line hand-colored woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 that began to be…

A red dye, senryō 染料, and pigment *ganryō 顔料, made from the safflower…

Also murasaki-e 紫絵; beni-nuki 紅抜き. Woodblock prints which completely omit bright vermilion *…

Primitive polychrome woodblock prints in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. Appeared after *…

Musashibō Benkei 武蔵坊弁慶, a semi-legendary warrior-monk of the 12th century, who was associated with Minamoto no *…

Also 辮髪. A long rope of hair hanging down the left side of the face and the left shoulder of a sculpted figure.…

Also written 瓣財天. Sk: Sarasvati. A Buddhist goddess of music, learning, eloquence, wealth, longevity, and protection from…

Also bero-ai ベロ藍. Prussian blue or Berlin blue. A synthetic blue paint made from ferric ferrocyanide, imported to…

Also called akujō beshimi 悪尉べし見, depending upon the school of Noh mask *nōmen…

A variety of mandala *mandara 曼荼羅 of a relatively small scale and…

Miscellaneous Record of Classified Sacred Images, a late Heian compendium of Buddhist iconography. Also called the…

A term which comes from the Portuguese for painting with oil pigments on the reverse side of glass. Fifty such paintings are…

Lit. pictures of beautiful women. Pictures depicting the beauty of the appearance, manners, and customs of women. The word…

Also sōgyō 僧形. A statue of a figure with a round shaved head, usually representing a Buddhist priest. Most commonly…

An abbreviation of *Bishamonten 毘沙門天, one of the four heavenly kings, or *…

A deity also called *Tamonten 多聞天 when portrayed as a member of the *…

Ch: Pipaxing. A painting subject based on the Song of the Lute, a narrative poem by the mid Tang dynasty poet, Bai…

Bizen 備前 ware. Pottery made in the Inbe 伊部 village of Bizen Province, now known as Wakegun 和気郡 in Okayama Prefecture. The…

Sk: bodhi druma. The name of the tree under which the historical Buddha *Shaka 釈迦…

Various block carving and printing techniques used to create gradated tones (shading) on woodblock prints, particularly 19th…

1　A gradation of colors or tones from dark to light or vice versa. One example is colorization of the…

Lit. pictures of horses at pasture. One type of genre painting *fūzokuga 風俗画…

Lit. ink plum. Ch: momei. Paintings of plum (actually prunus) rendered in sumi 墨 ink. Along with ink…

Ch: mozhu. Painting of bamboo rendered in *sumi 墨 ink. Bamboo…

Lit. herdboy and ox. Ch: mutong muniu. A Chinese painting theme long popular in Japanese ink painting. The subject…

Lit. ink play. Ch: moxi. The literati conception of painting as a form of self-expression, meant to convey ideas…

Ch: molan. Paintings of wild orchids rendered in *sumi 墨 ink. Related to…

A box for sutras. Indian sutras were written on long, narrow palm leaves. The leaves were stacked one top of the other, with…

Sk: Brahma. A major Hindu deity thought to be responsible for creating the world. Along with *…

1　Abbreviation of bodai satta 菩提薩た, a transliteration of the Sanskrit bodhisattva (Pari bodhisatta…

1　Abbreviation of botan karakusagawara 牡丹唐草瓦. A roof tile, often an eaves-end tile, whose pendant…

A mask used in kyōgen 狂言 plays to represent a demon. Glaring eyes, a wide jaw, and bared teeth give the mask a…

A Chinese floral pattern *karakusamon 唐草文, composed of curling grape vines…

Imperial court dance that is accompanied by Imperial court music, gagaku 雅楽, as performed from the late 8th century…

Paintings of *bugaku 舞楽, a classical Japanese court dance that sometimes used…

Masks worn when performing certain of the *bugaku 舞楽 dances developed from…

Ch: Fenggan. The Tang-dynasty priest noted for his eccentric behavior, who was usually depicted with his pet tiger. Fenggan…

Narrative paintings, reliefs, or group sculptures of Buddhist stories (sutras or legends), which were made in great…

Also bunbō shigan 文房四玩, bunbō shiyū 文房四友, and bunbō shikō 文房四候. Lit. the four treasures of the…

A general term for objects like brushes, paper, ink *sumi 墨, and inkstone *…

Bunchō's Treatise on Painting, an early 18th-century miscellany on painters, painting techniques, tools, and…

A class of mounting for hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物, that was originally…

Ch: wenrenhua. Lit. literati painting.  A type of painting in China, Korea, and Japan. In Japan, the term …

Also bukkō 仏工, zōbusshi 造仏師. A sculptor of Buddhist statues. 

The term was first used in the…

The lineage of a Buddhist sculptor *busshi 仏師, often presented as a…

A workshop or school of Buddhist sculptors *busshi 仏師. Bussho usually…

Lit. Buddha's foot(print) stone; also written 仏足跡 (footprints of the Buddha). A stone allegedly bearing the impression of…

Also Butchōson 仏頂尊. Sk: Usnisa. Lit. Buddha-Crown. A class of Esoteric Buddhist deities generally believed to be…

Lit. illustrated biographies of the Buddha. Artistic representations, usually painted or in low-relief sculpture, of the…

Also gan 龕. A niche carved out of a wall for the purpose of installing a Buddhist image, or a miniature Buddhist…

Also Butsugenson 仏眼尊 (Venerable Buddha-Eye). Lit. Buddha-Eye, or Mother of the Buddha. Sk: Buddhalocanal Locana. An Esoteric…

A variety of *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 (a mandala concerning a single deity…

Catalog of objects in Butsunichian, the 14th-century inventory of artistic and other properties of Butsunichian 仏日庵…

A general term that refers to all images of the Buddha used as objects of worship, although most commonly used to refer to…

Sandalwood; santalum album. A tree with fine-grained hardwood, native to India and Southeast Asia. The wood is pale-yellow…

Also Byakushozon 白処尊 and Byakue Kanjizaimo 白衣観自在母. (Sk: Panduravasini); White-robed *…

Also *mikenkō 眉間光, miken byakugō 眉間白毫, miken byakugōsō 眉間白毫相…

A pale blue pigment *ganryō 顔料, used in Japanese painting *…

A pale green pigment *ganryō 顔料, used in Japanese painting *…

Paintings on folding screens *byōbu 屏風. 

The earliest record of…

A folding screen consisting of multiple, joined panels. Folding screens vary in size; the standard size consists of six…

1　A general term that refers to the title or preface, dai 題 or daiji 題辞, and the…

Also daibusshi-shiki 大仏師職, zōbutsu-chōkan 造仏長官. An important Buddhist sculptor *…

Also jōrokubutsu 丈六仏. The term used to describe a very large statue of Buddha. Originally any statue more than…

A standard lotus pedestal *rengeza 蓮華座 used to support a *…

Also sōgyari 僧伽梨 (Sk: sanghati). A robe worn by Buddhist priests. The largest of the three robes *…

Also Taigensui Myōō 太元帥明王. Sometimes read Daigen Myōō. In Sanskrit, Atavaka, which means lord of the forest, and which is…

Lit. *myōō 明王 of great awesome virtue. A god thought so powerful as to be able to…

Translation of Sanskrit Mahesvara (also transliterated as Makeishura 摩醯首羅), one of the many names of Shiva, who, along with…

Also called Yukisuki-no-byōbu 悠紀主基屏風. Folding screens *byōbu 屏風 used…

1　An abbreviation for *Daikokuten 大黒天 (Sk: Mahakala). Regarded by…

Daikokuten is generally famous as a god of luck. He is most familiar in Japan as a fat, smiling figure with a big sack over…

Lit. Great Sun. Translation of the Sk. Mahavairocana "(Great) Illuminating One"; also translated as (Dai)Henjō (大)遍照 "(Great…

Also written 題箋. Also called *harigedai 貼外題 and gedaigami 外題紙. A…

A pedestal or dais upon which a Buddhist image is placed. The type of pedestal is related to the type of image it supports…

Also dakkanshitsu 脱乾漆, dakkatsu kanshitsuzō 脱活乾漆像, dakkatsu kanshitsu-zukuri 脱活乾漆造. Hollow dry…

1　The traditional term for kinpeki nōsaiga 金碧濃彩画, a painting which has strong colors, particularly…

1　Also written 反. A step. The level part or tread of a flight of stairs. When made of wood, the tread is…

Japanese paper *washi 和紙 originally made from mayumi 檀 fibers (the…

A Buddhist statue made from fragrant, fine-grained wood such as white sandalwood *…

Sk: Bodhidharma. Ch: Damo. A semi-legendary Indian monk credited with bringing the teachings of Zen (Ch: Chan) to China.…

Also written 伊達. Originally derogatory, the term implies a man arrogant and full of his own prowess; it later came to…

Lit. pictures of Tartars hunting. A popular screen painting theme in the late 16th and early 17th century. The pictures…

Also kindei 金泥 and gindei 銀泥.

1　Gold or silver foil ground to a fine powder to…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 used to represent a terrestrial spirit or a dragon god.…

Gold eyes. A Noh mask, *nōmen 能面, representing a mature woman who carries within…